About Us

We are a mother and daughter, Susan Beals and Sarah Appleton, and we are located in upstate New York south of Syracuse. Susan handles the breeding decisions, pays the bills, and sometimes shows in obedience. Sarah's interests are conformation, agility, and search and rescue.

Susan says:

"If I had gotten an Aussie the first time I saw and fell in love with one, I would have been in the breed for almost 23 years. He was the farm dog at the stable where my then six-year-old oldest daughter took her riding lessons. He was a beautiful red tri - majestic, calm. Polite to everyone who came, but he knew where you were allowed to be and where you were not. But life happens and it was not until 5 years ago that we got our first Aussie.

"Like many people, I have always had dogs. Of course, now when people say that to me I cringe, because I now realize how much I thought I knew and how little I do actually know about dogs. From the mixed breed rescue dogs I brought home as a kid, through the German Shepherds I had in college, to the rough collies I had as my own kids were growing up, and ultimately the Australian Shepherds who grace my life now, I have learned better and better training techniques, gained better and better understanding of how dogs think and learn, and become more humble in their love and acceptance. One of my 4H kids gave me a sweatshirt for Christmas this year that sums it up beautifully. "Dogs are not my whole life. Dogs make my life whole." And Aussies more than any other breed do that for me.

"I always knew that I would someday breed dogs. After all, I spent many years in college training as a geneticist and many, many years living with dogs. It seems a natural progression. Besides, that way I get to play with little puppies."

Sarah says:

“Since I can remember, there have been dogs around me. Big dogs, small dogs, fat dogs, skinny dogs. All of them good family pets, but none of them, in my opinion, as able to pull off the feat of ‘family dog’ as my first Aussie, Tammy. No other dog has had as wicked a sense of humor, as devoted a personality, or as protective a nature as my girl.

"Since Tammy has come to be my companion, more devoted than even the most committed stalker, there have been more dogs, more Aussies, including her children, and they are all fine animals. None, however have as much drive, intelligence, and devotion as the original Aussie of Cailleach. Even her reserved behavior with strangers makes her exactly what an Aussie should be.

"While much of my time is spent working my bloodhound in search and rescue, it is always fun to come home to find Tammy’s ‘treasures’ on my bed: toys, clothes, camera equipment; whatever she finds amusing. She’s my girl, and I love her, and I have never met an Aussie that was unable to make his or her person feel this way.”

Since she first got involved with the breed nearly ten years ago, Sarah has become a proficient handler in the conformation ring, putting points on not only Cailleach dogs, but finishing others as well. She studied handling under Carol Strong, excellent handler and mother of the well known Greg Strong, for several years, learning nearly everything she needed to know from those classes, although Carol will say that she had a natural talent for it.

At twenty-one, Sarah has been working with animals of various species for over ten years, starting in dog obedience when she was nine. Using a blend of techniques learned over her journey from one trainer to the next, she has earned quite a reputation among those in the Central New York area as "the girl to send your puppies and your untrainable dogs to." See our Services page for more information on training and handling by Sarah.